Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

The risk factors discussed in this section should be considered together with information included elsewhere in this Form 10-K and should not be considered the only risks to which we are exposed. In general, we are subject to the same general risks and uncertainties that impact many other industrial companies such as general economic, industry and/or market conditions, and growth rates; the impact of natural disasters, and their effect on global markets; possible future terrorist threats and their effect on the worldwide economy; and changes in laws or accounting rules. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial also may impair our business, including our results of operations, liquidity, and financial condition.

Our businesses may be adversely affected by disruptions in the financial markets or declines in economic activity both domestically and internationally in those countries in which we operate. These circumstances will also impact our suppliers and customers in various ways which could have an impact on our business operations, particularly if global credit markets are not operating efficiently and effectively to support industrial commerce.

Our Energy segment is subject to risk due to the volatility of global energy prices and regulations that impact drilling and production, with overall demand for our products and services impacted by depletion rates, global economic conditions and related energy demands.

Negative changes in worldwide economic and capital market conditions are beyond our control, are highly unpredictable, and can have an adverse effect on our revenue, earnings, cash flows, and cost of capital.

The oil and gas industry historically has experienced periodic downturns. Demand for our energy products and services is sensitive to the level of drilling and production activity of, and the corresponding capital spending by, oil and natural gas companies. The level of drilling and production activity is directly affected by trends in oil and natural gas prices, which have been recently volatile and may continue to be volatile.

Prices for oil and natural gas are subject to large fluctuations in response to changes in the supply of and demand for oil and natural gas, market uncertainty, geopolitical developments and a variety of other factors that are beyond our control. Even the perception of longer-term lower oil and natural gas prices can reduce or defer major capital expenditures by our customers in the oil and gas industry. Given the long-term nature of many large-scale development projects, a significant downturn in the oil and gas industry could result in the reduction in demand for our energy products and services, and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Approximately 40% of our revenues from continuing operations for 2014 and 41% of our revenues for 2013 were derived outside the United States. We continue to focus on penetrating global markets as part of our overall growth strategy and expect sales from outside the United States to continue to represent a significant portion of our revenues. In addition, many of our manufacturing operations and suppliers are located outside the United States. Our international operations and our global expansion strategy are subject to general risks related to such operations, including:

If we are unable to successfully manage the risks associated with expanding our global business or adequately manage operational risks of our existing international operations, the risks could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy involving expansion into new geographical markets or our results of operations and financial position.

Our competitive environment is complex because of the wide diversity of the products that our businesses manufacture and the markets they serve. In general, most of our businesses compete with only a few companies. Our ability to compete effectively depends on how successfully we anticipate and respond to various competitive factors, including new products and services that may be introduced by competitors, changes in customer preferences, new business models and technologies, and pricing pressures. If our businesses are unable to anticipate their competitors’ development of new products and services, and/or identify customer needs and preferences on a timely basis, or successfully introduce new products and services in response to such competitive factors, they could lose customers to competitors. If our businesses do not compete effectively, we may experience lower revenue, operating profits, and cash flows.

Customer requirements and new regulations may increase our expenses and impact the availability of certain raw materials, which could adversely affect our revenue and operating profits.

Our businesses use parts or materials that are impacted by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act") requirement for disclosure of the use of "conflict minerals" mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries. It is possible that some of our businesses' customers will require "conflict free" metals in products purchased from us. We are in the process of determining the country of origin of certain metals used by our businesses, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The supply chain due diligence and verification of sources may require several years to complete based on the current availability of smelter origin information and the number of vendors. We may not be able to complete the process in the time frame required because of the complexity of our supply chain. Other governmental social responsibility regulations also may impact our suppliers, manufacturing operations, and operating profits.

The need to find alternative sources for certain raw materials or products because of customer requirements and regulations may impact our ability to secure adequate supplies of raw materials or parts, lead to supply shortages, or adversely impact the prices at which our businesses can procure compliant goods.

Our businesses’ domestic and international sales and operations are subject to risks associated with changes in local government laws (including environmental and export/import laws), regulations, and policies. Failure to comply with any of these laws could result in civil and criminal, monetary, and non-monetary penalties as well as potential damage to our reputation. In addition, we cannot provide assurance that our costs of complying with new and evolving regulatory reporting requirements and current or future laws, including environmental protection, employment, data security, data privacy, and health and safety laws, will not exceed our estimates. In addition, we have invested in certain countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, and China, and may in the future invest in other countries, any of which may carry high levels of currency, political, compliance, and economic risk. While these risks or the impact of these risks are difficult to predict, any one or more of them could adversely affect our businesses and reputation.

Our effective tax rate is impacted by changes in the mix among earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation allowance of deferred tax assets, and changes in tax laws. The amount of income taxes and other taxes paid can be adversely impacted by changes in statutory tax rates and laws and are subject to ongoing audits by domestic and international authorities. If these audits result in assessments different from amounts estimated, then our financial results may be adversely affected by unfavorable tax adjustments.

Our businesses own patents, trademarks, licenses, and other forms of intellectual property related to their products. Our businesses employ various measures to maintain and protect their intellectual property. These measures may not prevent their intellectual property from being challenged, invalidated, or circumvented, particularly in countries where intellectual property rights are not highly developed or protected. Unauthorized use of these intellectual property rights could adversely impact the competitive position of our businesses and have a negative impact on our revenue, operating profits, and cash flows.

Certain of our businesses sell their products in industries that are constantly experiencing change as new technologies are developed. In order to grow and remain competitive in these industries, they must adapt to future changes in technology to enhance their existing products and introduce new products to address their customers’ changing demands. If these businesses are unable to adapt to the rapid technological changes, it could adversely affect our consolidated results of operations, financial position, and cash flows.

We purchase raw materials, sub-assemblies, and components for use in our manufacturing operations, which expose us to volatility in prices for certain commodities. Significant price increases for these commodities could adversely affect operating profits for certain of our businesses. While we generally attempt to mitigate the impact of increased raw material prices by hedging or passing along the increased costs to customers, there may be a time delay between the increased raw material prices and the ability to increase the prices of products, or we may be unable to increase the prices of products due to a competitor’s pricing pressure or other factors. In addition, while raw materials are generally available now, the inability to obtain necessary raw materials could affect our ability to meet customer commitments and satisfy market demand for certain products. Consequently, a significant price increase in raw materials, or their unavailability, may result in a loss of customers and adversely impact revenue, operating profits, and cash flows.

We expect to continue our strategy of seeking to acquire value creating add-on businesses that broaden our existing position and global reach as well as, in the right circumstances, strategically pursue larger acquisitions that could have the potential to either complement our existing businesses or allow us to pursue a new platform. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to find suitable businesses to purchase, that we will be able to acquire such businesses on acceptable terms, or that all closing conditions will be satisfied with respect to any pending acquisition. If we are unsuccessful in our acquisition efforts, then our ability to continue to grow at rates similar to prior years could be adversely affected. In addition, we face the risk that a completed acquisition may underperform relative to expectations. We may be unable to achieve synergies originally anticipated, exposed to unexpected liabilities and unable to to sufficiently integrate completed acquisitions into our current business and growth model. Further, if we fail to allocate our capital appropriately, in respect of either our acquisition program or organic growth in our operations, we could be overexposed in certain markets and geographies and unable to expand into adjacent products or markets. These factors could potentially have an adverse impact on our operating profits and cash flows.

We are continually evaluating our cost structure and seeking ways to capture synergies across our operations. If we are unable to reduce costs and expenses through our various programs, it could adversely affect our operating profits and cash flows.

We and certain of our subsidiaries are, and from time to time may become, parties to a number of legal proceedings incidental to their businesses involving alleged injuries arising out of the use of their products, exposure to hazardous substances, or patent infringement, employment matters, and commercial disputes. The defense of these lawsuits may require significant expenses and divert management’s attention, and we may be required to pay damages that could adversely affect our financial condition. In addition, any insurance or indemnification rights that we may have may be insufficient or unavailable to protect us against potential loss exposures.

Certain of the acquisition agreements by which we have acquired companies require the former owners to indemnify us against certain liabilities related to the operation of the company before we acquired it. In most of these agreements, however, the liability of the former owners is limited and certain former owners may be unable to meet their indemnification responsibilities. Similarly, the purchasers of our discontinued operations may from time to time agree to indemnify us for operations of such businesses after the closing. We cannot be assured that any of these indemnification provisions will fully protect us, and as a result we may face unexpected liabilities that adversely affect our profitability and financial position.

There can be no assurance that the contemplated dispositions will be completed on the anticipated terms or timeframe, or at all.

Our growth, profitability, and effectiveness in conducting our operations and executing our strategic plans depend in part on our ability to attract, retain, and develop qualified personnel, align them with appropriate opportunities, and maintain adequate succession plans for key management positions and support for strategic initiatives. If we are unsuccessful in these efforts, our operating results could be adversely affected and we could miss opportunities for growth and efficiencies.

We depend on various information technologies throughout our company to administer, store and support multiple business activities. If these systems are damaged, cease to function properly, or are subject to cyber-security attacks, such as those involving unauthorized access, malicious software and/or other intrusions, we could experience production downtimes,

operational delays, other detrimental impacts on our operations or ability to provide products and services to our customers, the compromising of confidential or otherwise protected information, destruction or corruption of data, security breaches, other manipulation or improper use of our systems or networks, financial losses from remedial actions, loss of business or potential liability, and/or damage to our reputation. While we attempt to mitigate these risks by employing a number of measures, including employee training, technical security controls, and maintenance of backup and protective systems, our systems, networks, products and services remain potentially vulnerable to known or unknown threats, any of which could have a material adverse affect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

While we strive to maintain high standards, we cannot provide assurance that our internal controls and compliance systems will always protect us from acts committed by our employees, agents, or business partners that would violate U.S. and/or non-U.S. laws or fail to protect our confidential information, including the laws governing payments to government officials, bribery, fraud, anti-kickback and false claims rules, competition, export and import compliance, money laundering, and data privacy laws, as well as the improper use of proprietary information or social media. Any such violations of law or improper actions could subject us to civil or criminal investigations in the U.S. and in other jurisdictions, could lead to substantial civil or criminal, monetary and non-monetary penalties, and related shareholder lawsuits, could lead to increased costs of compliance and could damage our reputation.

We conduct business through our subsidiaries in many different countries, and fluctuations in currency exchange rates could have a significant impact on the reported results of operations, which are presented in U.S. dollars. A significant and growing portion of our products are manufactured in lower-cost locations and sold in various countries. Cross-border transactions, both with external parties and intercompany relationships, result in increased exposure to foreign exchange effects. Accordingly, significant changes in currency exchange rates, particularly the Euro, Pound Sterling, Swiss franc, Chinese Renminbi (Yuan), and the Canadian dollar, could cause fluctuations in the reported results of our businesses’ operations that could negatively affect our results of operations. Additionally, the strengthening of certain currencies such as the Euro and U.S. dollar potentially exposes us to competitive threats from lower cost producers in other countries. Our sales are translated into U.S. dollars for reporting purposes. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar could result in unfavorable translation effects as the results of foreign locations are translated into U.S. dollars.

Three major ratings agencies (Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch Ratings) evaluate our credit profile on an ongoing basis and have each assigned high ratings for our long-term debt as of December 31, 2014. Although we do not anticipate a material change in our credit ratings, if our current credit ratings deteriorate, then our borrowing costs could increase, including increased fees under our five-year credit facility, and our access to future sources of liquidity may be adversely affected.

We received a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") substantively to the effect that, among other things, the distribution of shares to our shareholders, will qualify as tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"). To preserve the tax-free treatment of the distribution of shares to our shareholders, we will be subject to restrictions with respect to our activities, including restrictions relating to certain issuances or repurchases of our common stock, asset sales, mergers and liquidations.

These restrictions may limit our ability to pursue strategic transactions of a certain magnitude that involve the issuance or acquisition of our stock or engage in new businesses or other transactions that might increase the value of our business. These restrictions may also limit our ability to raise significant amounts of cash through the issuance of stock, especially if our stock price were to suffer substantial declines, or through the sale of certain of our assets.

In connection with the spin-off, Knowles agreed to indemnify us for any losses relating to the conduct of the Knowles business. There can be no assurance that the indemnity agreements will be sufficient to protect us against the full amount of any liabilities that may arise, or that the indemnitors will be able to fully satisfy their indemnification obligations. The failure to receive amounts for which we are entitled to indemnification could adversely affect our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.